Malta is cementing its reputation as a luxury destination with an ever-growing number of five-star properties and curated experiences, said tourism officials during the Luxury Malta event at the destination’s new Permanent Mission to the UN in Manhattan.
The country’s increasing popularity is evidenced in the rise in its US visitors, with 55,096 visiting the destination in 2023, which represents an increase of 35.6 percent over 2022 and a 9 percent increase over 2019, said Michelle Buttigieg, the North American representative of the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) during a panel discussion.
In all, she noted that 75,000 North Americans traveled to Malta in 2023, with another 39,000 Americans visiting on cruise ships, bringing the total to over the 100,000 mark.
Comino, Malta (Photo Credit: Malta Tourism Authority)
Buttigieg, who characterized Malta an open-air museum, credited the destination’s robust arrivals numbers to the support of such partners as Virtuoso, the United States Tour Operators Association, Travel Agent Academy and “MTA’s diverse but targeted promotional campaigns.”
On the hotel front, Malta is continuing to add to its portfolio of luxury properties with an array of international hotel brands, said Christophe Berger, director of VisitMalta Incentives & Meetings.
Upcoming debuts include Golden Bay Oasis, a Corinthian Hotel Group Mediterranean-style resort on Malta’s west coast, a second Relais & Châteaux property, a Six Senses resort on the island of Camino, an Anantara Resorts property in Valletta and Melia Hotels International’s ME Malta by Melia in St. Julian’s, which is set to debut this summer.
“We’ve also partnered with Forbes Travel Guide, and that that helped us a lot in terms of luxury brand recognition,” Berger said, adding that Malta boasts 31 Michelin-starred restaurants and is now included in the Michelin Guide.
In terms of demographics,US visitors to Malta are intellectually curious travelers who put a high premium on curated experiences, noted Jason Allan of Exclusively Malta, a destination management company that is a Virtuoso preferred supplier. “Luxury can’t be defined with a price,” he said. “We’ve built relationships on the island to be able to tell stories through all different types of people,” including local families, artisans and farmer to create superlative experiences.
“Malta, for many years, was considered the hidden gem of the Mediterranean, but through the hard work of our MTA representative in NY, Michelle Buttigieg, her team and our partners in the US, Malta isn’t so hidden anymore,” said MTA CEO Carlo Micallef in a video message during the event, which was hosted by Ambassador Vanessa Frazier, Permanent Representative of Malta to United Nations.
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